Astros’ Cooper on the hot seat? Should he be?

UPDATE: I had planned a new entry for Tuesday, but this one seems to be pertinent to the moment. Is Astros’ manager Cecil Cooper on the hot seat? Should he be?

He has drawn the ire of fans over the past few days for numerous decisions, most of which surround the pitching staff, both starting and relief.

Or maybe Casey Stengel, Earl Weaver and Sparky Anderson combined couldn’t take this tteam to the playoffs.

Whatever the case, if you’re looking for a place to sound off on the Astros’ manager, good or bad, get to it.

    

So you say a manager doesn’t make a lot of difference in wins and losses over the course of a season. Were you watching the Astros on Sunday?

The Astros just won their second series in a row and the bats seem to be waking up, so everything should be great, right? So why has the conversation turned to Cecil Cooper so much lately?

The Astros’ best pitcher this season finished five innings and was looking for his sixth consecutive quality start of the season. He wanted to go back out for the sixth, but manager Cooper said he’d seen enough.

After the game, Rodriguez said: “I wanted one more inning, but Cooper said that’s it. I respect this guy. I tell him, ‘I want one more inning.’ But he didn’t want to.” Six relievers later — three of those in the sixth — the Astros held on for a 7-5 win.

Whether he’s moving Felipe Paulino to the bullpen or questioning which way Hunter Pence hits the ball, Cooper has been making news in the past few weeks. Unless it’s Ozzie Guillen most managers are content to fly below the news radar.

Cooper is the first Astros’ manager under Drayton McLane’s watch who hasn’t tasted first or second place. Terry Collins finished second three times, Larry Dierker first five times, Jimy Williams never finished lower than second and Phil Garner was second and had a World Series appearance in his two full seasons.

Granted, this team is either under-performing or over-aged, or you may lay more of the blame at Ed Wade’s door for the team he assembled for Cooper to work with. But Cooper is getting second-guessed by players, fans and even announcers from time to time.

If he can’t turn around the Astros’ fortunes this season, it will mark four back-to-back years without playoffs since that World Series appearance. And that won’t go over well in the Big Office.

What is your biggest concern about Cooper? Can Cooper — can any manager — make a big difference in this season, one way or the other? What’s the over/under date for Cooper in ’09?

Is the third-year manager on a short leash or do you think the Astros are committed to him for all of ’09?